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Freaky Farley is a
strange independent film that is actually shot on film as opposed to
video. I'm not putting down video. A lot of the stuff that's
shot on video is really cool. However, film is expensive, so I
mention that Freaky Farley is shot on film because I instantly
have a certain amount of respect for any independent project that's shot on
film. I guess I feel like the people who made it must be pretty
damn serious if they are going to spend the money that it would take to
film an 83 minute movie. Plus, it's a lot easier to make film look good
than it is to make video look good, so with a movie that's shot on film,
you know it's going to look OK even if the filmmakers don't know what
they're doing. It gives them an edge.

The fact that this is
shot on film is not why it's strange though. Freaky Farley is sometimes billed as a horror movie in the style
of classic horror movies from the 1970s and 1980s. I've also seen
it described as a horror-comedy. Although it has elements of both
a horror movie and a comedy, is shot on film and clearly draws from
1970s and 1980s horror movies, I don't think that Freaky Farley
can accurately be described as any of this. It seems to me that
the film is really more of a bizarre art film masquerading as a classic
horror movie. There isn't a lot of blood and gore. In fact,
the first killing doesn't even happen until 55 minutes into the movie
and even then; it's not really very bloody. There's no nudity
despite the fact that the main character is billed as a voyeur in the
promotional synopsis. The story follows the killer rather than the
victims, so it's not like he jumps out and startles you in the middle a
darkly lit scene with creepy music. Also, you really sympathize
with the guy, so he's pretty much the hero of the film. There are
a lot of comedic elements, but they're more subtle. This is not Scary
Movie with slapstick humor and classic overused gags, the humor is a
lot darker and probably makes more sense if you've seen a lot of bad
B-Movies and have an offbeat sense of humor.

Freaky Farley is
about a guy who's pretty much a loner and a loser. His mother died
when he was a kid and his father has been hard on him ever since, making
him dig holes whenever he does something wrong. He enjoys spending
time floating down the local river or spying on people in the
neighborhood; which by the way is populated by an interesting cast of
characters including a badly costumed ninja, a witch, a bearded homeless
guy and a forest full of monsters. Farley begins to hang out with
a cool, outgoing chick and just when things start to look up for Farley,
it all falls apart.

The audio isn't too bad
although the volume of the dialog is somewhat inconsistent. The
film is shot pretty well and the editing is good. The background
music sounds very much like the classic stuff from the old horror
movies, but some of the songs that were used were pretty bad.
Having a drum machine really took away from the 1970s vibe of the
movie. I was surprised at how good some of the acting
was. Writer and lead actor Matt Farley delivers a good
performance as lead character Freaky Farley. Sharon Scalzo was
excellent as Farley's friend Scarlett Carter, a rare character with whom
it would be easy for any viewer to fall in love. I would see
another movie with her based solely on the fact that she was in it. Kevin McGee, Steff Deschenes, Katie Reidy
also delivered noteworthy performances.

If you are looking for
blood and guts, hot chicks losing their clothes, suspense, action, or
your standard classic horror movie story, this movie is not for
you. However, if you are a fan of classic bad horror movies of the
1970s and 1980s and you're looking for something new and different, I
would recommend checking out Freaky Farley.